21 Stayed

by Virginia Pasley

The story of the American GIs who chose Communist China and refused to come home from Korean War

248 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1955

Reviews

[Kevin Keating · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really interested in reading about the 21 American POWs who decided not to return to the US after the Korean War. This book, written not long after the wat, did not really satisfy. It did give a story of the backgrounds of these guys, and it was clear that they were mostly similar, from lonely upbringings. It never really discovered why they might have decided to stay. I looked them up afterward and SPOILER ALERT... most of them came back later. I would like to find out if they were interviewed afterward what they were thinking. Anyway, this book was not really that informative.

[Chad Montabon · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a fast, enjoyable read published not long after the Korean War was put into stasis. There were at least two rebuttals books that followed: ‘An American Dream: the Life of An African American Soldier and POW Who Spent 12 Years in Communist China’ by Clarence Adam’s and ‘Turncoat: An American’s 12 Years in Communist China’ by Morris Willis - as told to his daughter as I recall.
This book is just a straightforward account of the 21 with each getting a chapter, some basic biographical information, the government position each case and a little commentary.